BILL NUMBER: SB 774 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 2, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Ashburn
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act relating to nurse practitioners. An
act to add Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 16250) to Part 4 of
Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to children'
s services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 774, as amended, Ashburn. Nurse practitioners.
Social workers: background checks.
Existing law requires the counties, with the assistance of the
State Department of Social Services, to provide child welfare
services, including emergency response, foster care placement,
adoption services, and family maintenance and reunification.
This bill would require a county, before hiring an applicant for a
position as a county child protective service social worker who will
be assigned emergency response, family maintenance, family
reunification, permanent placement, or adoption responsibilities, to
secure from an appropriate law enforcement agency a criminal record
to determine if the applicant has ever been convicted of a crime
other than a minor traffic violation or arrested for specified
crimes. The bill would prohibit the county from employing the
applicant under prescribed circumstances. The bill would allow the
county to require the applicant to pay any fees charged by the law
enforcement agency for the processing of the criminal background
check and would prohibit the county from hiring a person who had been
convicted of a crime, other than a minor traffic violation.
Because this bill would require the counties to take additional
steps to hire social workers, it would impose a state-mandated local
program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, provides for the
certification and regulation of nurse practitioners and
nurse-midwives by the Board of Registered Nursing and specifies
requirements for qualification or certification as a nurse
practitioner. Under the act, the practice of nursing is defined, in
part, as providing direct and indirect patient care services, as
specified. The practice of nursing is also described as the
implementation, based on observed abnormalities, of standardized
procedures, defined as policies and protocols developed by specified
facilities in collaboration with administrators and health
professionals, including physicians and surgeons and nurses.
This bill would provide that it is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to define the scope of practice for nurse
practitioners.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no
yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
16250) is added to Part 4 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code , to read:
CHAPTER 3.5. CHILD WELFARE EMPLOYEES
16250. (a) Before hiring a person for a position as a county
child protective service social worker who will be assigned emergency
response, family maintenance, family reunification, permanent
placement, or adoption responsibilities, the county shall secure from
an appropriate law enforcement agency a criminal record to determine
if the applicant has ever been convicted of a crime, other than a
minor traffic violation, or arrested for any crime specified in
subdivision (c) of Section 290, or for violating Section 245 or
273.5, subdivision (b) of Section 273a, or, prior to January 1, 1994,
paragraph (2) of Section 273a, of the Penal Code. The criminal
history information shall include the applicant's full criminal
record, if any, and subsequent arrest information pursuant to Section
11105.2 of the Penal Code.
(b) The county may require the applicant to pay any fees charged
by the law enforcement agency for the processing of the criminal
background check.
16251. (a) If the county finds, through the criminal background
check required by Section 16250, that the applicant has been
convicted of a crime, other than a minor traffic violation, the
applicant shall not be hired.
(b) If the county finds that the applicant is awaiting trial for a
crime, other than a minor traffic violation, the county may cease
processing the application until the conclusion of the trial.
(c) If the county determines, after hiring an applicant, that the
person has been convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic
violation, the county shall terminate the employee.
16252. For purposes of this chapter, "conviction" means a plea or
verdict of guilty or a conviction following a plea of nolo
contendere in any court in this or another state. A conviction has
occurred when the time for appeal has elapsed, when the judgment of
conviction has been affirmed on appeal, or when an order granting
probation is made suspending the imposition of sentence,
notwithstanding a subsequent order pursuant to Sections 1203.4 and
1203.4a of the Penal Code permitting the person to withdraw his or
her plea of guilty and to enter a plea of not guilty, or setting
aside the verdict of guilty, or dismissing the accusation,
information, or indictment.
16253. An applicant who is denied a position pursuant to Section
16251 shall be entitled to receive a copy of the criminal record
report upon written request.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because a local agency or school district has the
authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to
pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to define the scope of practice for nurse
practitioners in the State of California.